In order to increase safety in night and low visibility flying conditions, equipment has been developed, such as the Kollsman Enhanced Vision System (EVS), which assists the pilot in detecting lights and ground features such as runways, buildings and other aircraft. This added ability enables the aircraft to be landed in lower minimal landing conditions, improves flight safety and increases pilot situational awareness.
Basically, this system consists of a Forward Looking IR (FLIR) Sensor, an electronics processing box and an infrared window installed in the aircraft radome. Video processing software algorithms display an infrared image of the approaching lights, runways, taxiways, as well as other structures such as buildings, ground vehicles, lighted and unlighted aircraft, terrain, etc. The image is displayed to the pilot via any raster capable Head-Up Display (HUD) or a head-down display such as a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT).
In order to properly evaluate the operational characteristics of this type of device, a special tester is required that is not found with currently available devices. An on-aircraft tester is required if this evaluation is to be conducted on the aircraft rather than in a lab or production facility.